TEACHERS OF TOMORROW

The Teacher Training sessions in March continued with physical events for a reduced number of participants thus respecting the COVID-19 measures for congruous physical distancing. The school-by-school sessions welcomed the teachers who predominantly work in remote areas, as units of all High Schools in Prizren, in the villages Romaje and Gjonaj. Workshops were facilitated by DokuFest teacher collaborators Jeta Rexha from High School 'Hajdar Dushi' in Gjakova, and Merita Shala from High School 'Ahmet Gashi' in Prishtina. DokuFest also welcomed postgraduate students of Psychology from the University of Prishtina who are being mentored by Eroll Bilibani and Malbora Krajku in a DokuLab program - use of film in education, and who have contributed to the enrichment of Teacher's Digital Library with the development of didactic materials that can assist all teachers in Kosovo in their use of the extraordinary medium of film in the classroom. The workshops are part of the educational program of DokuFest, embedded within the DokuLab, a program that provides tools and knowledge in the use of art for teaching, in conjunction with traditional methods, to enable a wider reach of students, deeper understanding of complex issues and promotion of social development. The participants had the opportunity to partake in the development of the Film Guides, which are aligned with the Curricular Framework of the Republic of Kosova and empowers teachers to achieve a wide range of effective learning outcomes and provide students the opportunity for meaningful engagement with the extraordinary medium of film. At the end of this workshop, each participating teacher was assigned to test this approach in the classroom with their students and to organize activities after the film screening. The current program has enabled the creation of educational resources available as an open-source for all teachers in Kosova through Teachers Digital Library. Our current resources provide films and tools for the following themes: Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights and Promotion of Democratic Values Media Literacy, Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism, Environment and Sustainable Development, Inclusive Education for Returnees and Marginalized Communities. This grant is supported by the ‘Civil Society programme for Albania and Kosovo’, financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) in partnership with Partners Albania for Change and Development (PA)